Welcome to the UK Program for Bioethics website. This program brings people of the UK HealthCare clinical enterprise together with multidisciplinary colleagues with skills and interests in the field of bioethics.

The UK Program for Bioethics is responsible for bioethics education and consultation to the UK HealthCare clinical enterprise and the wider University of Kentucky campus. Our program is also involved in education and outreach for the wider clinical community throughout Kentucky, and we are available as a public education resource on bioethics nationwide. View information on the UK HealthCare Ethics Committee.

Clinical Ethics Grand Rounds

Clinical Ethics Grand Rounds typically occur at noon on the second Tuesday of each month February through April and September through November and are open to anyone on campus.

Clinical ethics consultations

We have a clinical ethics consult service that deals with ethical issues and dilemmas in the patient care setting, which may involve patients, family members, the doctor-patient relationship or clinical colleagues. Examples of clinical ethics issues include:

These issues can be complicated by a variety of socio-economic, cultural or language barriers.

Bioethics education

We provide bioethics education to the UK clinical enterprise in the form of grand rounds, graduate medical education (GME) or other continuing medical education (CME) activities. For a list of educational presentations delivered to date, contact the program director. We are also the educational resource for the clinical enterprise surrounding ethics and professionalism, moral distress and moral residue in the clinical setting, and organizational ethics in the clinical setting. Independent study in bioethics can also be arranged for undergraduate and graduate students throughout the university, depending on their program requirements.

Bioethics Film Series

A wide variety of films serve as bioethics teaching aids. The Bioethics Film Series offers a screening and discussion of one film each month. See our lineup of films below. We can also offer bioethics education for any clinical or non-clinical department using any film in our catalog.